Glasgow driver's £100k cannabis stash found in Carlisle lockdown stop

Cherno Bah was jailed for 39 months after admitting possession with intent to supply and supplying a Class B drug

A drugs courier was found with cannabis plants worth an estimated £100,000 hidden in his car when police stopped him for travelling during lockdown.

Cherno Bah, 43, had attempted to mask the smell from the 10kg stash using cheap air fresheners and coffee, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Bah, from Glasgow, was stopped on the M6 near Carlisle on 4 February when all but essential travel was banned.

He admitted possession with intent to supply and was jailed for 39 months.

The court heard the former taxi driver was pulled over in his VW Passat near Southwaite at about 15:30 BST.

Officers detected the smell of "extremely cheap air fresheners" and coffee, prosecutor Tim Evans said, but the overpowering scent was a strong cannabis odour.

An initial search yielded only £590 cash, but further examination at Carlisle Police Station found the plants hidden in a secret compartment behind the back seats.

A further £10,000 in cash was found at his home on Maryhill Road.

Number plate recognition cameras showed the car had made nine, almost daily, 11-hour round trips between Scotland and the West Midlands.

Bah initially claimed he made the trips because he and a business partner were involved in importing food from The Gambia.

He also admitted supplying the class B drug between 1 December and 4 February.

Recorder Andrew Nuttall heard Bah had got into desperate financial straits after his marriage broke down.